Sheffield leads Tigers past Texas again

Gary Sheffield homered to ignite a six-run third, and Curtis Granderson had two triples and three RBIs to lift the Detroit Tigers past the reeling Texas Rangers 11-4 Thursday night.

Brandon Inge drove in three runs, and Sean Casey and Magglio Ordonez each had three hits as the Tigers feasted on Rangers pitching for the second straight night.

The Rangers have the worst record in baseball at 21-39. They have lost 12 of 15 games.

Texas starter Kameron Loe (1-6) gave up nine runs in 2 2-3 innings and the Rangers' starters ERA climbed to 6.97. This was 18th time this season a Rangers starter has pitched four innings or fewer.

Sheffield led off the third with his 16th home run of the season to gave Detroit a 4-1 lead. He hit two home runs and had five RBIs in Detroit's 10-0 victory Wednesday.

Mike Maroth (4-2) was the beneficiary of Detroit's offensive outburst. He allowed three runs and eight hits over five innings.

Mark Teixeira hit his 12th homer in the ninth and had two RBIs for the Rangers. Michael Young and Jerry Hairston both had RBI doubles.

Texas slugger Sammy Sosa was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in his pursuit to become the fifth player to hit 600 home runs. Sosa is 7-of-48 with 16 strikeouts since hitting his 598th homer on May 22.

Detroit, which had 17 hits, broke open a 3-1 game in the third.

Sheffield led off with a 405-foot blast into the Rangers bullpen. Craig Monroe had an RBI groundout, Inge had an RBI single and Granderson then hit his 12th triple of the season to drive in two more. That extended Detroit's cushion to 8-1.

Scott Feldman relieved Loe and allowed Placido Polanco's RBI single. The Tigers had seven hits and sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning.

Loe gave up nine hits and walked one to lose his sixth straight decision. He hasn't won since April 21 -- a span of nine starts.

The Rangers pitchers didn't get much help from their defense.

Hairston, who was making a his first start of the season at third base, committed an error in the first. Right fielder Victor Diaz misplayed Casey's double in the third, and second baseman Ian Kinsler botched a rundown that allowed Ordonez to score later in the inning.

The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the fourth on RBI singles from Mike Rabelo and Granderson.

Detroit struck first when Granderson, who had three hits, tripled to open the game. He came home on Sheffield's RBI groundout.

After Young's RBI double tied the game at 1, Inge's two-run double put the Tigers ahead for good in the second.

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